Communication System Selection

ABSTRACT

A communication device may have multiple units for communicating through multiple channels. The communication device may also include a display for displaying various screens. The communication device may display a function settings screen for selecting a communication unit to be used for communication with an external device. The communication device may determine whether an external device is already specified. The communication device may also display a device search screen identifying one or more external devices that can communicate with a particular communication unit of the communication device. Further, the communication device may display an updated function settings screen that indicates which communication unit is set to be used for communication with an external device and that identifies which external device is to receive communications from such communication unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/090,075, filed Nov. 26, 2013, which claims priority from JapanesePatent Application No. 2012-261753, filed on Nov. 29, 2012, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

Aspects described herein relate to selecting a communication system, anda computer-readable storage medium storing a communication supportprogram and a communication device for selecting a communication system.

BACKGROUND

There has been known a mobile telephone device that is allowed toperform communication with an external device via the Bluetooth® system(Bluetooth® is a registered trademark owned by BLUETOOTH SIG. INC. ofKirkland, Wash.) and/or a wireless local area network (“LAN”),selectively.

BRIEF SUMMARY

When a device is configured to communicate using a plurality ofcommunication channels, in order to perform communication between thedevice and an external device, a user may be required to perform aninput operation on the device to select a communication channel andanother input operation to specify a communication target device withwhich to exchange communications using the selected communicationchannel. Some users may find such input operations bothersome.

Aspects described herein provide a computer-readable storage mediumstoring a communication support program and a communication device thatmay facilitate an input operation required to perform communication withan external device.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable instructionsthat may be executed by a communication device comprising a firstcommunication unit, a second communication unit, and a display unit.When executed, the computer-readable instructions may instruct thecommunication device to: display, on the display unit, a functionsettings screen (e.g., a print settings screen) comprising a firstoption (e.g., a radio button, check box, or other field) for selectingthe first communication unit and a second option for selecting thesecond communication unit; determine whether an external deviceconfigured to communicate with the first communication unit (e.g., aWiFi unit or Bluetooth unit) is specified; display, on the display unit,a device search screen identifying one or more external devicesconfigured to communicate using the first communication unit; anddisplay, on the display unit, an updated function settings screenindicating that the first communication unit is set to be used forcommunication with the external device in response to determining thatthe external device is specified.

According to another embodiment of the disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable instructionstherein that may be executed by a communication device. Thecommunication device may include a first communication unit, a secondcommunication unit, and a display unit. When executed, thecomputer-readable instructions may instruct the communication device to:display, on the display unit, a device search screen identifying one ormore external devices configured to communicate using the firstcommunication unit; determine that a particular external device fromamong the one or more external devices displayed on the device searchscreen is selected; determine whether the communication device is set touse the second communication unit for communication with the particularexternal device in response to determining that the particular externaldevice is selected; and set the communication device to use the firstcommunication unit for communicating with the particular external devicein response to determining that the communication device is set to usethe second communication unit.

According to another embodiment of the disclosure, a communicationdevice comprises a first communication unit configured to communicateusing a first protocol (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.); a secondcommunication unit configured to communicate using a second protocol(e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.); a display unit; at least one processor;and a memory storing computer-readable instructions therein. When thecomputer-readable instructions are executed by the at least oneprocessor, they may instruct the communication device (e.g., asmartphone, tablet, etc.) to: display, on the display unit, a functionsettings screen comprising a first option for selecting the firstcommunication unit and a second option for selecting the secondcommunication unit; determine whether an external device configured tocommunicate with the first communication unit is specified when thefirst option is selected on the function settings screen; and display,on the display unit, an updated function settings screen indicating thatthe first communication unit is set to be used for communication withthe external device in response to determining that the external deviceis specified.

According to another embodiment, the disclosure provides a communicationdevice comprising a first communication unit; a second communicationunit; a display unit; at least one processor; and a memory storingcomputer-readable instructions therein. When the computer-readableinstructions are executed by the at least one processor, they mayinstruct the communication device to: display, on the display unit, adevice search screen identifying one or more external devices configuredto communicate using the first communication unit; determine that aparticular external device from among the one or more external devicesdisplayed on the device search screen is selected; determine whether thecommunication device is set to use the second communication unit forcommunication with the particular external device in response todetermining that the particular external device is selected; and set thecommunication device to use the first communication unit forcommunicating with the particular external device in response todetermining that the communication device is set to use the secondcommunication unit.

This summary is not intended to identify critical or essential featuresof the disclosure, but instead merely summarizes certain features andvariations thereof. Other details and features will also be described inthe sections that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the disclosure are illustrated by way of example and not bylimitation in the accompanying figures in which like referencecharacters indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting a system configuration in a firstillustrative embodiment according to one or more aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display screen displayed on a display in the firstillustrative embodiment according to one or more aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting an example Wi-Fi® communication supportprocess in the first illustrative embodiment according to one or moreaspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E are state diagrams depicting a transitionof states of the display screen in response to a selection when aprinter has not yet been specified in the first illustrative embodimentaccording to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E are state diagrams depicting a transitionof states of the display screen in response to another selection when aprinter has not yet been specified in the first illustrative embodimentaccording to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting an example Wi-Fi® specifying process inthe first illustrative embodiment according to one or more aspects ofthe disclosure.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, and 7E are state diagrams depicting a transitionof states of the display screen in response to selection of a printerselection field in the first illustrative embodiment according to one ormore aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting an example Bluetooth® communicationsupport process in the first illustrative embodiment according to one ormore aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D are state diagrams depicting a transition ofstates of the display screen in response to a selection when a printerhas not yet been specified in the first illustrative embodimentaccording to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D are state diagrams depicting a transitionof states of the display screen in response to a selection when aprinter has not yet been specified in the first illustrative embodimentaccording to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart depicting an example Bluetooth® specifyingprocess in the first illustrative embodiment according to one or moreaspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D are state diagrams depicting a transitionof states of the display screen in response to a selection of theprinter selection field in the first illustrative embodiment accordingto one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart depicting an example Wi-Fi® communication supportprocess in a second illustrative embodiment according to one or moreaspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, needssatisfied thereby, and the objects, features, and advantages thereof,reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings.

First Illustrative Embodiment

Hereinafter, a first illustrative embodiment according to the disclosureis described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 depicts a configuration of a mobile telephone device 10 as acommunication device according to the first illustrative embodiment. Inthe mobile telephone device 10, a central processing unit (“CPU”) 14, amemory 16, a Wi-Fi® communication device 18, a Bluetooth® communicationdevice 18, and a user interface 22 may be connected with each other viaan input and output port 12 (e.g., a data bus) and may be allowed toperform communication with each other. The CPU 14 may be configured toexecute a program stored in the memory 16 that may be a nonvolatilememory. The memory 16 may store various setting values used incommunication via the Wi-Fi® communication device 18 or in communicationvia the Bluetooth® communication device 18 as well as an operatingsystem (“OS”) and various programs. The Wi-Fi® communication device 18may be an interface for performing wireless communication in compliancewith a Wireless Fidelity (“Wi-Fi®”) standard (Wi-Fi® is a registeredcertification mark owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance of Austin, Texas).Hereinafter, wireless communication performed in compliance with theWi-Fi® standard may be referred to as “communication using the Wi-Fi®system” or “Wi-Fi® communication”. The Bluetooth® communication device18 may be an interface for performing wireless communication incompliance with a Bluetooth® standard. Hereinafter, wirelesscommunication performed in compliance with the Bluetooth® standard maybe referred to as “communication using the Bluetooth® system” or“Bluetooth® communication”. The mobile telephone device 10 may comprise,as the user interface 22, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) 22 b and atouch panel (“TP”) 22 a for accepting a user's input. In theillustrative embodiment, the user interface 22 may be configured withthe LCD 22 b and the touch panel 22 a placed on top of the LCD 22 b. Thetouch panel 22 a may be configured to detect a contact or proximity ofan instruction device, for example, a finger or a stylus, to the touchpanel 22 a.

Communication using the Wi-Fi® system and communication using theBluetooth® system may be available for the mobile telephone device 10 toperform communication with an external device, for example, a printer.That is, the mobile telephone device 10 may be allowed to performcommunication with a plurality of external printers (not depicted). Eachof the plurality of external printers may be allowed to performcommunication using at least one of the Wi-Fi® system and the Bluetooth®system. As such, each of the plurality of external printers may performcommunication with the mobile telephone device 10 via at least one ofthe Wi-Fi® system and the Bluetooth® system.

In an illustrative embodiment, a communication support program, a typeof application program, may be stored in the memory 16 to facilitateinput operations to the touch panel 22 a when a communication method isselected from the Wi-Fi® system and the Bluetooth® system and when aprinter targeted for communication using the selected communicationmethod is selected. In an illustrative embodiment, there may be at leasttwo communication channels, for example, a communication channel foraccessing a printer via communication using the Wi-Fi® system and acommunication channel for accessing a printer via communication usingthe Bluetooth® system. Selecting Wi-Fi® communication may includeselecting the communication channel for accessing a printer viacommunication using the Wi-Fi® system, and selecting Bluetooth®communication may include selecting the communication channel foraccessing a printer via communication using the Bluetooth® system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of display screens displayed on the LCD 22b, particularly, an example selection screen for selecting acommunication channel for communication with a printer using the Wi-Fi®system and communication with a printer using the Bluetooth® system. Ina title display field 34, for example, “Print Settings” may be indicatedas a title of the selection screen (or function settings screen). In theillustrative embodiment, a field corresponding to communication usingthe Wi-Fi® system (e.g., a selection support field 30), and a fieldcorresponding to communication using the Bluetooth® system (e.g., aselection support field 32) may be listed. Each of the selection supportfields 30 and 32 may comprise a printer selection field PA for selectinga printer and a radio button RA for selecting a communication channel.The selection screen depicted in FIG. 2 may be displayed by theexecution of the communication support program stored in the memory 16by the CPU 14.

The printer selection field PA in the selection support field 30 may bea field in which an operation for selecting a printer to be used forcommunication with the mobile telephone device 10 via Wi-Fi®communication (hereinafter, referred to as a “Wi-Fi® printer”) may beallowed to be performed. The printer selection field PA in the selectionsupport field 32 may be a field in which an operation for selecting aprinter to be used for communication with the mobile telephone device 10via Bluetooth® communication (hereinafter, referred to as a “Bluetooth®printer”) may be allowed to be performed.

The radio button RA in the selection support field 30 may be a field forspecifying the Wi-Fi® system as a channel to be used for communicationwith an external device. The radio button RA in the selection supportfield 32 may be a field for specifying the Bluetooth® system as achannel to be used for communication with an external device. The radiobutton RA selected as the channel to be used for communication may beindicated in a manner different from the other radio button RA thatmight not be selected as the channel to be used for communication. Forexample, the radio buttons RA may be indicated in respective differentcolors. Such an indication may be adopted to visually display which oneof the channels has been specified as the channel to be used forcommunication. In FIG. 2, for example, the Wi-Fi® system has beenspecified as the channel to be used for communication.

In the illustrative embodiment, one of the Wi-Fi® system and theBluetooth® system may always be specified as the channel to be used forcommunication. Therefore, an indication representing that the channelhas been specified as the channel to be used for communication mayalways be given in one of the radio buttons RA in the selection supportfields 30 and 32. For example, as the communication support program isinstalled on the mobile telephone device 10, the Wi-Fi® system may bespecified as the channel to be used for communication for an initialsetting.

Each set of the printer selection field PA and the radio button RAdepicted in FIG. 2 may correspond to an appropriate one of the selectionsupport fields 30 and 32. For example, the selection support fields 30and 32 may include the respective printer selection fields PA and thenthe radio buttons RA may be embedded into the selection support fields30 and 32, respectively. The radio buttons RA may be an element having arectangular shape. When a user selects (e.g., touches) an area withinthe four corners of the radio button RA and the selection (e.g., touch)is detected, the corresponding radio button RA may be selected. In someembodiments, a user may effectively select a radio button RA byselecting any portion of the corresponding selection support field 30,32. For example, selecting any portion of the selection support field 30may be detected as a selection of the radio button RA within thatselection support field 30. Further, in some embodiments, it might notbe necessary to correspond the selection support fields 30 and 32 to therespective printer selection fields PA and embed the radio buttons RAinto the selection support fields 30 and 32, respectively.

Each of the printer selection fields PA may comprise a field fordisplaying a name of a printer selected as a communication target in alower portion thereof. When a printer as a communication target has notyet been specified, an indication representing that acommunication-target printer has not yet been specified may be displayedin this field. In FIG. 2, for example, an indication when any of acommunication-target printer for Wi-Fi® communication (hereinafter,referred to as a “Wi-Fi® printer”) and a communication-target printerfor Bluetooth® communication (hereinafter, referred to as a “Bluetooth®printer”) has been specified may be displayed. Alternatively, forexample, a message stating “No Device selected” may be displayed as theindication representing that a communication-target printer has not yetbeen specified.

Hereinafter, a function with which to facilitate a process forspecifying a communication channel for communication with a printer byan input operation to the touch panel 22 a, using the communicationsupport program, is described.

FIG. 3 depicts a procedure of a Wi-Fi® communication support processaccording to an illustrative embodiment. The Wi-Fi® communicationsupport process may be implemented by a communication support programstored in the memory 16, which may be repeatedly performed by the CPU14, for example, at predetermined intervals.

In step S10, the CPU 14 may determine whether an input to the radiobutton RA in the selection support field 30 corresponding to Wi-Fi®communication has been detected. The input to the radio button RA may beperformed by a user's input operation, for example, a touch to the radiobutton RA. When a positive determination is made in step S10 (YES atS10), in step S12, the CPU 14 may determine whether a Wi-Fi® printer tobe used for communication with the mobile telephone device 10 hasalready been specified. When a negative determination is made in stepS12 (NO at S12), in step S14, the CPU 14 may determine whether acommunication function using the Wi-Fi® system (hereinafter, alsoreferred to as a “Wi-Fi® communication function”) is enabled. Forexample, when the power of the Wi-Fi® communication device 18 is on orwhen the Wi-Fi® communication device 18 has been recognized by the OS asa communication device to be used, the Wi-Fi® communication function isenabled. When a negative determination is made in step S14, in step S16,the CPU 14 may display, on the LCD 22 b, a Wi-Fi® specifying screen forenabling the Wi-Fi® communication function. This situation may beillustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4D, for example. That is, when the Wi-Fi®communication function is disabled at the time of the selection of theradio button RA in the selection support field 30 corresponding toWi-Fi® communication as depicted in FIG. 4A, the screen may be switchedto the Wi-Fi® specifying screen (or communication unit enablementscreen) depicted in FIG. 4D to prompt the user to enable the Wi-Fi®communication function. In response to this, the user may operate thetouch panel 22 a in accordance with guidance displayed on the Wi-Fi®specifying screen to enable the Wi-Fi® communication function (see FIG.4E). In FIG. 4E, a field of an execution button to which an inputoperation for instructing the performance of communication using theWi-Fi® system may be performed may be displayed on the LCD 22 b, forexample.

As depicted in FIG. 3, after the CPU 14 displays the Wi-Fi® specifyingscreen, the CPU 14 may wait until the Wi-Fi® communication functionbecomes enabled by the user's operation for instructing the performanceof communication using the Wi-Fi® system (e.g., step S18). Then, when apositive determination is made in step S18 after the Wi-Fi®communication function becomes enabled by the user's operation or when apositive determination is made in step S14, the routine may proceed tostep S20.

In step S20, the CPU 14 may display a Wi-Fi® printer search screen. Thatis, as depicted in FIG. 4B, the CPU 14 may display, on the LCD 22 b, ascreen on which one or more communicable Wi-Fi® printers may be listedas one or more candidates for a communication party device for Wi-Fi®communication. The Wi-Fi® printer search screen may be displayed throughthe switching of the screen from the screen depicted in FIG. 4A.Therefore, another title, for example, “Wi-Fi® printer”, may bedisplayed in the title display field 34 to indicate that the Wi-Fi®printer search screen may be another screen. In response to this, whenthe user performs an input operation for selecting a specific Wi-Fi®printer, the CPU 14 may determine that a printer has been selected inprocessing of step S22 in FIG. 3 and the routine may proceed to stepS24. In step S24, the CPU 14 may specify the selected printer as thecommunication party device for Wi-Fi® communication and display anupdated function settings screen (e.g., the “Print Settings” screen) asdepicted in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 4A illustrates a situation in which any printer has not beenspecified first. Therefore, the indication representing that a Wi-Fi®printer has not been specified yet, for example, a message “No Deviceselected”, may be displayed in the selection support field 30. In FIG.4C, the name of the specified Wi-Fi® printer (e.g., “Wi-Fi P-2”) may bedisplayed.

When the processing of step S24 in FIG. 3 has been completed or when apositive determination is made in step S12, the routine may proceed tostep S26. In step S26, the CPU 14 may determine whether the Wi-Fi®system has been specified as the communication channel for communicationwith the printer at the time the positive determination is made in stepS10, and more specifically, immediately before the radio button RA inthe selection support field 30 corresponding to communication using theWi-Fi® system is selected. When a negative determination is made in stepS26, in step S28, the CPU 14 may switch the channel to be used forcommunication with the printer to the communication channel via Wi-Fi®communication and specify the communication channel via Wi-Fi®communication as the channel to be used for communication. When thechannel to be used for communication is switched to use Wi-Fi®communication, an indication that the communication channel to be usedfor communication with the printer is the Wi-Fi® system may be stored inthe memory 16. Thereafter, when an operation for performingcommunication with the printer is again performed after communication isperformed with the printer and the communication session has ended, theWi-Fi® system may be specified as the communication channel to be usedfor communication with the printer, as the initial setting.

FIGS. 5A to 5E illustrate a situation that occurs when a negativedetermination is made in step S26. That is, even when the Bluetooth®system has been specified as the communication channel to be used firstas apparent from the indication of the radio button RA in the selectionsupport field 32 corresponding to communication using the Bluetooth®system in FIG. 5A, the communication channel to be used may be switchedto the Wi-Fi® system (see FIG. 5C) by the specification of the Wi-Fi®printer (see FIG. 5B). For example, when the Wi-Fi® system has beenspecified as the communication channel as depicted in FIG. 4A, theWi-Fi® system may be continuously selected as the communication channelafter the Wi-Fi® printer is selected. Therefore, the processing ofswitching the communication channel might not be performed.

When the processing of step S28 has been completed, when a negativedetermination is made in step S10, or when a positive determination ismade in step S26, the CPU 14 may end an instance of the Wi-Fi®communication support process.

FIG. 6 illustrates a procedure of a Wi-Fi® specifying process accordingto an illustrative embodiment. The Wi-Fi® specifying process may beimplemented by a communication support program stored in the memory 16,which may be repeatedly performed by the CPU 14, for example, atpredetermined intervals. The Wi-Fi® specifying process depicted in FIG.6 may be performed concurrently with the Wi-Fi® communication supportprocess depicted in FIG. 3.

First, in step S30, the CPU 14 may determine whether an input to theprinter selection field PA in the selection support field 30corresponding to communication using the Wi-Fi® system has beendetected. The input to the printer selection field PA may be implementedby a user's input operation, for example, a touch to the printerselection field PA. When a positive determination is made in step S30,the CPU 14 may perform processing of steps S32 to S42 similar to theprocessing of steps S14 to S24 in FIG. 3. Then, when the processing ofstep S42 has been completed, the CPU 14 may perform processing of stepS46 or processing of steps S46 and S48 similar to the processing ofsteps S26 and S28 in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 7A to 7E illustrate a situation that occurs when a negativedetermination is made in step S46. That is, even when the Bluetooth®system has been specified as the communication channel to be used firstas apparent from the indication of the radio button RA in the selectionsupport field 32 corresponding to communication using the Bluetooth®system in FIG. 7A, the communication channel to be used may be switchedto the Wi-Fi® system (see FIG. 7C) by the specification of the Wi-Fi®printer (see FIG. 7B).

FIG. 8 illustrates a procedure of a Bluetooth® communication supportprocess according to an illustrative embodiment. The Bluetooth®communication support process may be implemented by a communicationsupport program stored in the memory 16, which may be repeatedlyperformed by the CPU 14, for example, at predetermined intervals. TheBluetooth® communication support process depicted in FIG. 8 may beperformed concurrently with the Wi-Fi® communication support processdepicted in FIG. 3 and the Wi-Fi® specifying process in depicted FIG. 6.

First, in step S50, the CPU 14 may determine whether an input to theradio button RA in the selection support field 32 corresponding tocommunication using the Bluetooth® system has been detected. When apositive determination is made in step S50, in step S52, the CPU 14 maydetermine whether a Bluetooth® printer to be used for communication withthe mobile telephone device 10 has already been specified. When anegative determination is made in step S52, in step S54, the CPU 14 maydetermine whether a communication function using the Bluetooth® system(hereinafter, referred to as a “Bluetooth® communication function”) isenabled. When a negative determination is made in step S54, the CPU 14may display a Bluetooth® specifying screen on the LCD 22 b in step S56.This situation may be illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9D, for example. Thatis, as depicted in FIG. 9A, when a Bluetooth® connection is notestablished at the time of the selection of the radio button RA in theselection support field 32 corresponding to Bluetooth® communication,the screen may be switched to the Bluetooth® specifying screen depictedin FIG. 9D to prompt the user to enable the Bluetooth® communicationfunction. In response to this, the user may operate the touch panel 22 ain accordance with guidance displayed on Bluetooth® specifying screen toenable the communication function using the Bluetooth® system.

As the CPU 14 displays the Bluetooth® specifying screen, as depicted inFIG. 8, the CPU 14 may wait until the communication function using theBluetooth® system becomes enabled by the user's operation forinstructing the performance of communication using the Bluetooth® system(e.g., step S58). Then, when a positive determination is made in stepS58 after the communication function using the Bluetooth® system becomesenabled by the user's operation or when a positive determination is madein step S54, the routine may proceed to step S60.

In step S60, the CPU 14 may display a Bluetooth® printer search screen.That is, as depicted in FIG. 9B, the CPU 14 may display, on the LCD 22b, a screen on which one or more communicable Bluetooth® printers may belisted as one or more candidates for a communication party device forBluetooth® communication. For the Bluetooth® case, one or more printersthat may be paired with the mobile telephone device 10 and registered bythe OS may be listed. Therefore, in actual, one or more incommunicableprinters may also be displayed. In preparation for a case where it maybe desired to specify another Bluetooth® printer that may be differentfrom the one or more listed Bluetooth® printers, a link to anotherscreen for adding a new Bluetooth® printer may be preferably provided onthe Bluetooth® printer search screen.

When the user performs an input operation for selecting a specificBluetooth® printer, the CPU 14 may determine that a printer has beenselected in processing of step S62 in FIG. 8 and the routine may proceedto step S64. In step S64, the CPU 14 may specify the selected printer asthe communication party device for Bluetooth® communication and displaythe “Print settings” screen as depicted in FIG. 9C.

FIG. 9A illustrates a situation in which any printer has not beenspecified first. Therefore, for example, the indication representingthat a Bluetooth® printer has not been specified yet, for example, amessage “No Device selected”, may be displayed in the selection supportfield 32. In FIG. 9C, the name of the specified Bluetooth® printer(e.g., “Bu P-1”) may be displayed.

When the processing of step S64 in FIG. 8 has been completed or when apositive determination is made in step S52, the routine may proceed tostep S66. In step S66, the CPU 14 may determine whether the Bluetooth®system has been specified as the communication channel for communicationwith the printer at the time the positive determination is made in stepS50, and more specifically, immediately before the radio button RA inthe selection support field 32 corresponding to communication using theBluetooth® system is selected. When a negative determination is made instep S66, in step S68, the CPU 14 may switch the channel to be used forcommunication with the printer to the communication channel viaBluetooth® communication and specify the communication channel viaBluetooth® communication as the channel to be used for communication.When the channel to be used for communication is switched to useBluetooth® communication, an indication that the communication channelto be used for communication with the printer is the Bluetooth® systemmay be stored in the memory 16. Thereafter, when an operation forperforming communication with the printer is again performed aftercommunication is performed with the printer and the communicationsession has ended, the Bluetooth® system may be specified as thecommunication channel to be used for communication with the printer, asthe initial setting.

FIGS. 10A to 10D illustrate a situation that occurs when a negativedetermination is made in step S66. That is, even when the Wi-Fi® systemhas been specified as the communication channel to be used first asapparent from the indication of the radio button RA in the selectionsupport field 30 corresponding to communication using the Wi-Fi® systemin FIG. 10A, the communication channel to be used may be switched to theBluetooth® system (see FIG. 10C) by the specification of the Bluetooth®printer (see FIG. 10B). For example, when the Bluetooth® system has beenspecified as the communication channel as depicted in FIG. 9A, theBluetooth® system may be continuously selected as the communicationchannel after the Bluetooth® printer is selected. Therefore, theprocessing of switching the communication channel might not beperformed.

When the processing of step S68 has been completed, when a negativedetermination is made in step S50, or when a positive determination ismade in step S66, the CPU 14 may end an instance of the Bluetooth®communication support process.

FIG. 11 illustrates a procedure of a Bluetooth® specifying processaccording to an illustrative embodiment. The Bluetooth® specifyingprocess may be implemented by a communication support program stored inthe memory 16, which may be repeatedly performed by the CPU 14, forexample, at predetermined intervals. The Bluetooth® specifying processdepicted in FIG. 11 may be performed concurrently with the Wi-Fi®communication support process depicted in FIG. 3, the Wi-Fi® specifyingprocess depicted in FIG. 6, and the Bluetooth® communication supportprocess depicted in FIG. 8.

First, in step S70, the CPU 14 may determine whether an input to theprinter selection field PA in the selection support field 32corresponding to communication using the Bluetooth® system has beendetected. The input to the printer selection field PA may be implementedby a user's input operation, for example, a touch to the printerselection field PA. When a positive determination is made in step S70,the CPU 14 may perform processing of steps S72 to S82 similar to theprocessing of steps S54 to S64 in FIG. 8. Then, when the processing ofstep S82 has been completed, the CPU 14 may perform processing of stepS84 or processing of S84 and S86 similar to the processing of steps S66and S68 in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 12A to 12D illustrate a situation that occurs when a negativedetermination is made in step S84. That is, even when the Wi-Fi® systemhas been specified as the communication channel to be used first asapparent from the indication of the radio button RA in the selectionsupport field 30 corresponding to communication using the Wi-Fi® systemin FIG. 12A, the communication channel to be used may be switched to theBluetooth® system (see FIG. 12C) by the specification of the Bluetooth®printer (see FIG. 12B).

According to the above-described illustrative embodiment, the followingeffects may be obtained.

At the time of the input operation to one of the radio buttons RA, whena printer has not been specified as the communication target to be usedfor communication using the communication channel (e.g., the Wi-Fi®system or the Bluetooth® system) corresponding to the radio button RAselected by the input operation, the screen may be switched to theprinter search screen on which the specification of a printer may beavailable (see FIGS. 4B, 5B, 7B, 9B, and 10B). Therefore, thisconfiguration may facilitate the user's input operation.

The user interface 22 may be configured with the LCD 22 b and the touchpanel 22 a placed over the LCD 22 b. This configuration may implementthe user-friendly display such that the user may readily find a field onwhich a desired operation may be performed. This configuration may alsohave an advantage that, on the LCD 22 b, the locations for displayingthe selection support fields 30 and 32, respectively, may also be usedas the locations for displaying the printers on the printer searchscreen.

Each of the selection support fields 30 and 32 may comprise the printerselection field PA for selecting a printer and the radio button RA forselecting a communication channel. With this configuration, the user mayreadily perform the selection of a printer and the selection of acommunication channel.

For the printer specification on the printer search screen, when thecommunication channel corresponding to the specified printer has notbeen specified as the channel to be used for communication, thecurrently-specified communication channel may be switched to thenewly-specified communication channel. Therefore, this configuration mayfacilitate the user's input operation.

At the time of the selection of a communication channel for which aprinter to be used has not been specified, when the communicationfunction using the selected communication channel is disenabled, thescreen for enabling the communication function may be displayed toprompt the user to enable the communication function. As thecommunication function becomes enabled, the screen may be switched tothe printer search screen. This configuration may provide auser-friendly process to assist the user in enabling a previouslydisabled communication channel that the user desires to use forprinting. The user may enable a communication channel without closingthe communication support program used for selecting print settings.

One of the Wi-Fi® system and the Bluetooth® system may always bespecified as the communication channel to be used for communication withthe printer. In addition, even when the channel that has not beenspecified as the communication channel to be used first is selected bythe input operation to one of the printer selection fields PA, thescreen may be switched to the printer search screen directly. Thisconfiguration may also facilitate the user's input operation.

The radio buttons RA may have different appearances depending on whetherwhich one of the Wi-Fi® system or the Bluetooth® system has beenselected as the communication channel to be used for communication withthe printer. For example, the radio buttons RA may be partially (orcompletely) filled to indicate that a corresponding communicationchannel is selected. With this configuration, the user may readilyconfirm the specified communication channel.

The name of the specified printer may be displayed in the printerselection field PA. Thus, the user may readily confirm the specifiedprinter.

When the printer has not been specified, the indication representingthat the printer has not been specified may be displayed in the printerselection field PA. Thus, when the printer is not specified, the usermay readily confirm the facts that the printer has not been specified.

Second Illustrative Embodiment

Hereinafter, a second illustrative embodiment is described withreference to the accompanying drawings, mainly focusing on differentparts from the first illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a procedure of a Wi-Fi® communication supportprocess according to the second illustrative embodiment. The Wi-Fi®communication support process may be implemented by which thecommunication support program stored in the memory 16 may be repeatedlyperformed by the CPU 14, for example, at predetermined periods. For thesake of convenience, the same step numbers are assigned in FIG. 13 tothe steps that correspond to the steps in FIG. 3.

In step S10 a, the CPU 14 may determine whether an input to theselection support field 30 corresponding to communication using theWi-Fi® system has been detected. When a positive determination is madein step S10 a, the routine may proceed to step S12. When a positivedetermination is made in step S12, in step S19, the CPU 14 may determinewhether an input to the radio button RA corresponding to communicationusing the Wi-Fi® system has been detected in step S10 a. When a positivedetermination is made in step S19, the routine may proceed to step S26.When a negative determination is made in step S19, the routine mayproceed to step S14.

The above described process according to the second illustrativeembodiment may also offer similar user usability of the touch panel 22 ato the user usability when the processes depicted in FIGS. 3 and FIG. 6are performed.

The Bluetooth® communication support process may also be performed in asimilar manner to the Wi-Fi® communication support process depicted inFIG. 13. Accordingly, a description of the Bluetooth® communicationsupport process is omitted.

Other Embodiments

While the disclosure has been described in detail with reference to thespecific embodiments thereof, they are merely examples, and variouschanges, arrangements, and modifications may be applied therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Variations of theillustrative embodiments are enumerated below.

In the above-described illustrative embodiments, one of the radio buttonRA corresponding to communication using the Wi-Fi® system and the radiobutton RA corresponding to communication using the Bluetooth® system mayalways be selected. However, in other embodiments, for example, nochannel may be specified in an initial state because there is no memoryof the previous printer specification. In this case, for example, theradio buttons RA of the respective communication channels may have thesame status (e.g., either both are selected or both are unselected).

In the above-described illustrative embodiments, once the settings arespecified, the settings may be stored and maintained unless the storedsettings are changed. However, in other embodiments, for example, whenan amount of energy stored in the mobile telephone device 10 becomes apredetermined amount or less, the specified information may be erased.In this case, it may be unnecessary to store the specificationinformation in the memory (e.g., the nonvolatile memory) that may holddata regardless of the presence or absence of power supply, for example,a flash memory. With this configuration, the storage area of thenonvolatile memory may be reduced.

The shape of the selection support fields 30 and 32 might not be limitedto the rectangular shape. In other embodiments, for example, theselection support fields 30 and 32 may have a circular shape. In thiscase, in each of the selection support fields 30 and 32, a printerselection field (as an example of a device selection field) may beassigned to one semicircle of the circular field and a radio button (asan example of communication channel selection field) may be assigned tothe other semicircle of the circular field.

In the above-described illustrative embodiments, a selected radio buttonmay appear different from an unselected radio button. However, in otherembodiments, for example, the backgrounds (either completely orpartially) of the selection support fields 30 and 32 may have differentcolors.

In the above-described illustrative embodiments, the Bluetooth® systemand the Wi-Fi® system may be taken as examples of the channels to beused for communication with the printer. However, in other embodiments,for example, a communication channel via infrared rays, a communicationchannel via a universal serial bus (“USB”), or a communication channelvia a wired LAN may be adopted as the channel to be used forcommunication with the printer. The number of communication channelslisted on the LCD 22 b might not be limited to two. In otherembodiments, for example, three or more communication channels may belisted.

In this case, all selection support fields corresponding to the three ormore communication channels, respectively, might not be listed on thedisplay unit to fit the ones that are listed on a single screen.Particularly, when a relatively large number of communication channelsare available to be listed and each display field of the selectionsupport fields requires a predetermined size or larger in terms ofreadability, it might be difficult to list all the selection supportfields on the single screen. In this case, the display screen may beallowed to display all the communication channels through adiscontinuous change of the display screen from one to another (e.g.,the switching of the display screen) or through a continuous change ofthe display screen at a flick of the touch panel 22 a to scroll thedisplay screen.

The method of providing the function of permitting the printerspecification on condition that the communication function is enabled instep S14 or S18 in FIG. 3 might not be limited to the specificembodiments. In other embodiments, for example, when a positivedetermination is made in step S10, the CPU 14 may perform appropriateone or more of the processing of steps S14, S16, and S18 and thenperform the processing of step S12. Also, for example, the CPU 14 mayperform appropriate one or more of the processing of steps S14, S16, andS18 subsequent to the processing of step S26 in the Wi-Fi communicationsupport process depicted in FIG. 3.

The user interface might not be limited to the user interface configuredwith the LCD 22 b and the touch panel 22 a placed on one another. Inother embodiments, for example, a display unit and an input unit may bedisposed in different areas. In this case, also, for example, the userinterface may comprise the input unit for selecting the printerselection fields PA and the radio buttons RA. When a printer to be usedfor communication via a communication channel corresponding to anoperated radio button has not been specified, the printer search screenmay be displayed on the display unit. At that time, the printerspecification on the printer search screen may be allowed to beperformed on the input unit.

In some instances, a printer may already be associated with acommunication channel so that selection of the printer may automaticallyspecify a channel to be used for communication. For example, after aprinter is specified as described above, the communication channel forwhich the printer has been specified may be specified automatically asthe channel to be used for communication.

In some embodiments, both the printer selection field PA and thecommunication channel selection field for selecting a communicationchannel (e.g., the radio button RA) might not be provided. In otherembodiments, for example, a common field for selecting a printerregardless of the communication channel may be displayed along with oneor more communication channel selection fields for selecting acommunication channel for communicating with the printer in the commonfield. In this case, at the time of an input operation to one of thecommunication channel selection fields, if a printer to be used has notbeen specified, a printer selection screen may be displayed to allow aprinter to be selected. This configuration may also allow a user toavoid having to perform a separate input operation, and therefore, mayalso simplify the user's input operation.

Again, in some embodiments, both the printer selection field PA and thecommunication channel selection field for selecting a communicationchannel (e.g., the radio button RA) might not be provided. In otherembodiments, for example, a printer selection field for eachcommunication channel may be provided. In this case, when a printerselection field is selected, a communication channel corresponding tothe printer selection field may be specified automatically and a printerselection screen may be displayed to allow the user to select a printeravailable for use with the automatically specified communicationchannel. This configuration may also allow a user to avoid having toperform a separate input operation for specifying a communicationchannel, and thus may also simplify the user's input operation. When theselected printer selection field already specifies a target printer, theprinter selection screen (e.g., as depicted in FIG. 4B) may be displayedand the target printer may be selected again (or confirmed).

In the above-described illustrative embodiments, a printer may be takenas an example of the external device as the communication target.However, the communication-target device might not be limited to theprinter. In other embodiments, for example, the communication-targetdevice may be a scanner, a multifunction device, a personal computer, oranother mobile telephone device. In short, the communication-targetdevice may be any device that may be allowed to perform communicationwith the mobile telephone device 10.

In the above-described illustrative embodiments, the mobile telephonedevice 10 may be taken as an example of the communication device.However, the communication device might not be limited to the mobiletelephone device 10. In other embodiments, for example, thecommunication device may be a tablet terminal not having a telephonefunction or a personal computer.

Some or all of the functions of the application program may be performedby special hardware, instead of software.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions therein that, when executed by a processor of a communication device comprising a first communication unit, a second communication unit, and a display unit, instruct the communication device to execute: displaying, on the display unit, a first option for selecting the first communication unit; displaying, on the display unit, a second option for selecting the second communication unit; determining, when the first option is selected, whether an external device configured to communicate with the first communication unit has been specified; displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that the external device has been specified, a setting screen comprising a device selection field indicating the external device has been specified; and displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that the external device has not been specified, a device search screen identifying one or more external devices configured to communicate using the first communication unit.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to displaying the setting screen comprising: a first selection support field comprising a first device selection field and the first option for selecting the first communication unit; and a second selection support field comprising a second device selection field and the second option for selecting the second communication unit.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: determine, based on selection of the first option and the determination that one of the external devices has been specified, whether the first communication unit is set to be used for communication with the external device.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: set, based on the determination that the first communication unit has not been set to be used for communication with the external device, the first communication unit to be used for communication with the external device.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: determine, based on selection of the first option, whether the first communication unit is enabled; and display, based on determining that the first communication unit is not enabled, a communication unit enablement screen comprising an enablement option for selecting the first communication unit to be enabled.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: determine whether the first communication unit is enabled after the first option is selected; and after determining that the first communication unit is not enabled, display a device search screen on a condition that the first communication unit becomes enabled.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: determine, based on selection of the first option and determination that the external device has not been specified, whether the first communication unit is enabled; and display, based on determining that the first communication unit is enabled, a device search screen.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: specify, based on a selection of one of the external devices from among the one or more external devices displayed on the device search screen, a particular external device to be used for communication with the communication device.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: display, based on selection of the first option, the first option differently than the second option to indicate that the first communication unit was previously set to be used for communication with the external device.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: display the name of the external device to be used for communication with the first communication unit.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the communication device, further instruct the communication device to: display an indication that the external device is not specified when the external device is not specified.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the first communication unit comprises a Wi-Fi interface, and wherein the second communication unit comprises a Bluetooth interface.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions therein that, when executed by a processor of a communication device, the communication device comprising a first communication unit, a second communication unit, and a display unit, the communication device being configured to communicate with one or more external devices, instruct the communication device to execute: displaying, on the display unit, a first option for selecting the first communication unit; displaying, on the display unit, a second option for selecting the second communication unit; determining, based on selection of the first option, whether one of the one or more external devices has been specified; displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that one of the one or more external devices has been specified, a setting screen comprising a device selection field indicating the external device has been specified; and displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that no external device has been specified, a device search screen identifying the one or more external devices.
 14. A communication device comprising: a first communication unit; a second communication unit; a display unit; a processor; memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor cause the communication device to: display, on the display unit, a first option for selecting the first communication unit; displaying, on the display unit, a second option for selecting the second communication unit; determining, based on selection of the first option, whether one or more external devices has been specified; displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that one of the one or more external devices has been specified, a setting screen comprising a device selection field indicating the external device of the one or more external devices has been specified; and displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that no external device has been specified, a device search screen identifying the one or more external devices.
 15. A computer-implemented method comprising: displaying, on a display unit of a communication device, a first option for selecting a first communication unit of the communication device; displaying, on the display unit, a second option for selecting a second communication unit of the communication device; determining, based on selection of the first option, whether one or more external devices has been specified; displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that one of the one or more external devices has been specified, a setting screen comprising a device selection field indicating the external device has been specified; and displaying, on the display unit, based on the determining that no external device has been specified, a device search screen identifying the one or more external devices. 